


Between Heaven and Hell

by explorerofworlds



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bisexual Dean Winchester, Canon Compliant to a Point, Cas deserves better, Castiel Has a Soul (Supernatural), Castiel Loves Dean Winchester, Castiel Out of the Empty (Supernatural), Castiel and Dean Winchester Have a Profound Bond, Castiel and Dean Winchester Need to Use Their Words, Castiel and Dean Winchester and Sam Winchester are Jack Kline's Parents, Castiel is Saved (Supernatural), Castiel is Saved from the Empty (Supernatural), Character Death Fix, Dean Mourns Castiel, Dean Winchester Loves Castiel, Dean Winchester Needs Castiel, Dean Winchester Needs a Hug, Dean Winchester Uses Actual Words, Destiel - Freeform, Episode AU: s15e20 Carry On, Episode Fix-It: s15e20 Carry On, Episode Fix-it, F/M, Fix-It, Gay Castiel (Supernatural), Human Castiel (Supernatural), Human Castiel in the Men of Letters Bunker (Supernatural), Hurt Castiel (Supernatural), Hurt Dean Winchester, Love Confessions, M/M, Married Sam Winchester, POV Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester Ships Castiel/Dean Winchester, Song: Carry on My Wayward Son (Kansas), carry on, my wayward sons, the end sucked, the ending they deserved, the ending we deserve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:33:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27681508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/explorerofworlds/pseuds/explorerofworlds
Summary: The finale sucked, so here we go. A retry for the happy ending we all deserved. Dean mourns the loss of Cas and begins to try at a normal life. Sam finds a spell that they could use to summon the Empty in an attempt to bargain for Cas’ life.
Relationships: Castiel & Dean Winchester, Castiel/Dean Winchester, Eileen Leahy & Sam Winchester, Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester
Comments: 1
Kudos: 49





	Between Heaven and Hell

Dean had not slept in a week. 

They had defeated God. Jack had taken over his position, and they were finally free from the story. But they had lost Cas. 

Dean hadn’t known what to say when Cas told him he loved him. It all happened so fast. One moment they were running from Billie and the next Cas had confessed, shoved Dean aside, and sacrificed himself to save Dean.

When he ran into Sam after, he could tell his brother sensed something wrong. He didn’t mention it though, figuring Dean would come to him if he needed. 

Dean had powered through fighting Chuck, but after he collapsed on his bed and sobbed. He couldn’t take the idea that the angel he had known for over a decade was gone. He needed time to mourn. Jack had disappeared and everyone had come returned so that was a good sign things were going back to normal. 

Miracle had bounded up to Dean in the street after being popped back into existence, and Dean could never deny him. He brought him home, and the dog had adapted to life in the bunker well. He was the only thing getting Dean out of bed in the morning. 

After a week, Sam knocked on his door. He had known this would happen at some point, and he was surprised Sam had waited this long. “Yeah?” he called. 

Sam opened the door and leaned against the frame. “How’re you doing?”

“Peachy,” he grinned half-heartedly.

Sam rolled his eyes. “What happened to Cas?”

Dean stared at his feet, blinking back the tears that were looming behind his eyes. “He sacrificed himself.”

He could hear Sam step into the room and walk over to his desk, sitting in his chair. 

There was a pause as Sam let Dean gather his thoughts.

“He told me he loved me, Sammy,” he choked out the words. “And I couldn’t do anything but get pushed aside and watch as the Empty took him.”

He continued to stare at his feet. He didn’t want to look at Sam and see the judgement in his eyes. Silence fell in the room before Dean continued, “I couldn’t tell him how I felt.”

He glanced up to see Sam watching him with a sad look in his eyes. 

“I love him,” he said softly. “And I never got to say it.”

Sam nodded, “I thought so.”

Dean furrowed his brows. 

“What? I notice things. He never answered my calls, but you call once and he appears? Obviously something is going on between you two.”

Dean huffed out a laugh. “Yeah I guess so.”

“You can’t keep locking yourself away here though. You have to make his sacrifice worth it. We’re finally free from the story, and you can choose how to live your life.”

Dean nodded, “I know. It’s just hard. We always had something to fight, but now we don’t have to anymore.” 

“I thought you might say that,” Sam grinned and Dean narrowed his eyes. “I brought something to help with your decision making.”

Sam pulled out some papers from behind his back, and Dean scooted across the bed to get a closer look. Sam handed them to Dean, and he flipped through. They were job listings for things he barely needed any qualifications for. 

“Sam, I-”

“I gave you some options to start out with. I wasn’t sure what exactly you would be interested in, but I tried to get a variety-”

“Thank you, Sammy,” Dean said, placing the papers on his bed as he pulled Sam in for a hug. “These look like some really good options.”

He sat back down and picked the papers up again. “It feels right to try to live my life now. We earned it.”

Sam smiled at him, “Yeah we did.”

Dean spent the next week applying to jobs, and he even started to get some calls back. He was looking into construction management. He liked the idea of working on a project and completing it to help people. The company seemed interested in hiring him, and he was getting excited for the first time about doing something normal with his life. He always knew his mom didn’t want him to go into hunting, and for the first time he knew the world would be alright with him going into the legitimate workforce. 

One day, Dean was sitting at his computer in their study when Sam stalked in. “There you are!”

“What’s up, Sammy?” he asked.

Sam placed the book he found in front of him. “I was doing some research. I didn’t want to get your hopes up, but I think I found a spell that could lead us to Cas. I know it’s a longshot, but we could always try.”

Dean looked at the spell. There was a list of some basic ingredients they had in the bunker along with the incantation they had to read. 

O inania

Est mortis

Ubi angeli ad somnum

Placere exaudi orationem meam

Responde nobis, audi nos

Venite auxilium vobis dormientibus

At a pretium

“And you think this could work?”

Sam nodded. “It’s a spell to summon the Empty. We’d have to be very careful about how we bargain with it, but I think if we help it fall back asleep we could exchange that for Cas.” 

Dean glanced at the page again to see if he missed anything. “Let’s do it.”

The brothers gathered the ingredients and soon enough they were set up and ready to perform the spell. They had agreed Sam would read the spell and Dean would be on standby to help out. 

Sam cleared his throat, before beginning to read aloud, “O inania

Est mortis

Ubi angeli ad somnum

Placere exaudi orationem meam

Responde nobis, audi nos

Venite auxilium vobis dormientibus

At a pretium.”

They waited a moment before a black, sticky substance began to crawl out of the ground, forming a large circle of goo. The liquid coalesced into the blond form that used to be Meg.

She sighed. “You called?”

“If you release Castiel from your void, we will help you go back to sleep. You said Jack made it loud, and we want to help you,” Sam explained.

“You want to help me?” She paused, eyeing them suspiciously. “How do I know you’ll stay true to your word?”

Dean spoke up, “If you don’t fall asleep, you’ll be able to stop us right?”

She raised an eyebrow. “I suppose that could work. Give me a moment.”

They waited.

“Step back,” she said dramatically, and the boys stepped away. 

They watched as she closed her eyes. The black goop started to move around her feet, bubbling and forming little shapes and bubbles as if something was trying to escape. Another piece of the darkness seemed to escape her, as if a phantom limb was reaching out. It began to grow, morphing and reaching to the floor. The goo expanded until it almost seemed the height of a person. Sam and Dean made eye contact, hardly believing this was going their way. They were going to have Cas back.

Suddenly, the goo popped and Cas fell out to the ground, little slips of goo falling around him before retreating back into its blond form. She let out a gasp as the rest flowed back into her before she opened her eyes to stare at them. 

“Now for your side of the bargain?” She waited a moment as they walked over to Cas who began to sit up.

“Cas…” Dean said, hardly believing he was there.

“Are you alright?” Sam asked, trying to check nothing had gone wrong with bringing him back as had so often happened in the past.

“Oh, I might have forgotten to mention a little caveat,” Meg called.

Dean put a hand on the angel blade in his jacket. 

“He won’t have his powers any more. To escape me, he has to be made human.” Dean frowned. “He’s still the Castiel you know, but he will live and die as any human would. His mortal life will be short, and his soul will be weighed.”

Dean looked back to Cas. They locked eyes and a thousand words seemed to pass between them. Dean turned back to Meg. “That’s alright.”

Sam, assured that Cas would be alright, walked to the table where they had created a mixture that would hopefully put the Empty to sleep. It had come from an ancient book Rowena had left behind, and they were assured by the many warnings surrounding it that the sleep would be fatal and must only be used in the worst cases. Sam grabbed the bowl and handed it to her. 

She looked down into the purplish concoction and frowned before downing it. She dropped the bowl and gripped her head. Sam and Dean pulled Cas back, fearing what would happen if this failed. They would have to fight and that would not end well. 

She moaned in pain and gripped her head tighter before relaxing. She let out a soft, “thank you” as her knees dropped to the floor, her eyes shut, and she fell asleep on the ground. Her form began to dissolve, soaking back into the ground where it had come from. In a few moments, it was as if she had never been there. Except Cas now stood before them, clad in his suit and trench coat as always. Dean couldn’t help but notice that he looked happy. 

“You saved me,” Cas said as he looked at Dean. 

“Of course,” Dean muttered back. “Cas-”

“You don’t have to say it, Dean. I know,” Cas said.

“No, Cas. I need to tell you. I love you, too. I think I knew for a while, but I didn’t want to think what that would have meant for us,” Dean said, looking earnestly into his bright blue eyes. At some point in the past several minutes, Sam had disappeared to some other part of the bunker.

Cas took a step closer. “I can’t read your thoughts anymore, so I guess I’ll have to get used to hearing you say it.”

Dean laughed, full and loud. “I can’t wait.”

They grinned at each other, and Dean couldn’t believe how lucky he was to have this angel turned human standing in front of him loving him in return. He had always thought of himself as his dad’s blunt little instrument, but being loved by Cas helped him realize he could be more than that. 

Dean leaned in next to Cas' ear, "You know it's almost like I gripped you tight and raised you from the Empty."

Cas chuckled, "Not quite." 

He took Cas’ hand nervously and their fingers intertwined. He looked back up into Cas’ eyes, and he felt a spark of hope light in his stomach. He knew he would be alright now. He had Cas back. 

The next day, Sam planned a dinner for their small, found family. Eileen helped Sam cook as Dean and Cas played with Miracle. Once the food was ready, they sat around the table and thought about all those they had lost along the way to get to this perfect moment.

“Hey guys, just thought I’d drop by,” Jack said after appearing at the head of their table. “Castiel, I’m so glad to see you again. I knew they would rescue you otherwise I would have-”

He stopped when Cas pulled him into a hug and said, “I’m so proud to call you my son.”

Jack sat down to eat with them and told how he had reformed Heaven. He broke down the walls that separated people in their memories, allowing them to roam and be with the ones they loved. Jack explained how he made sure the vengeful spirits that rested on Earth like Kevin were let back in as well as folks like Bobby who had been barred as well. While he knew he wanted to be less hands on, he promised he would visit every once in a while to check on his parents as they grew old.

Sam and Eileen got married the following year. Dean and Castiel could be seen holding hands in the front row along with many rows filled with their fellow hunters that made up their family and friends over the years. Jody, Donna, and even Jack at the far back of the audience filled the seats to watch the two promise their lives to each other. 

The reception was filled with dancing and singing and lots of drinking, but most of all it was filled with happiness because their little found family had grown so much over the years. The boys knew they were finally free of any story written by some bad writer. They could make their own path together with the ones they loved, and they would have a beautiful heaven waiting for them when it ended a long time from now.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> The ending really disappointed me. I loved that the boys went to heaven and it was fixed, but how they got there was terrible in my opinion. There were so many loose plot threads, and they basically threw the past 10 years of character development out the window. I knew I had to write my own because I was so upset. Thanks for reading!


End file.
